The invention concerns a device for supplying package sleeves to a filling machine for filling liquid foodstuffs into multi-layer composite packages, with the filling machine comprising several filling lines aligned parallel to each other.
Multi-layer composite packages, in particular cuboid multi-layer packages are generally known in particular as units of sales for drinks. Thanks to their favourable energy balance, they are increasingly competing successfully against drink bottles, including returnable drink bottles. Of these cuboid multi-layer composite packages, some are made from a tube and are separated only after packaging; others are made from package cutouts comprising folding grooves, and glued together to a package sleeve. With these, manufacture of the completed package bottom only takes place immediately prior to filling.
Filling machines for filling liquid foodstuffs into such multi-layer composite packages are known from German patent DE 41 42 167 C2. These known filling machines comprise a number of magazines for supplying the package sleeves, corresponding to the number of filling lines. Since as a rule, these filling machines are located at the filling enterprise, the pre-fabricated package sleeves, with printing according to the specifications of the filling enterprise, are first of all packed at the manufacturer""s premises where a specified number of flat, folded package sleeves are stacked in a parcel which is held together by a carton as outer packaging, for transport to the filling enterprise. It is self-evident that with this type of transport, the available transport volume can be utilised almost to one hundred percent. In this, the individual cartons containing the package-sleeve parcels are stacked on Europallets in order to facilitate or speed up loading and unloading of the trucks.
With the known filling machine it is necessary to free the depalletised parcels of package sleeves, still in cartons, from their outer packaging and supply them by the parcel to the magazine or the magazines of the filling machine. Since filling regularly takes place at high speed, care must always be taken that the magazines have an adequate supply of package sleeves, to reliably prevent the filling machine from stopping. This necessitates continuous attendance of an operator.
From GB 2 203 723 A a transport system for packaging blanks is known where the packaging blanks stacked one on top of the other are placed from a storage area onto a conveyor belt. To this effect, the conveyor system provides for a gripper device which is moveable perpendicular to the conveyor belt on a connecting piece. The two ends of this connecting piece are connected to two rails which enable lateral movement of the connecting piece along the conveyor belt.
EP 0 597 549 A1 describes a particular embodiment of a gripper for conveying packaging blanks, which makes possible the removal of a number of stacked packaging blanks from a larger stack of stacked packaging blanks. To this effect, the desired number of packaging blanks is laterally displaced in the upper part of the stack and subsequently taken up by the gripper.
The known conveyor systems only have limited application for the use in filling machines for filling liquid foodstuffs. Firstly, with the known conveyor system it is impossible to convey package sleeves in an upright position, and secondly their design volume is either too large or they are unnecessarily complex for gripping package sleeves in an upright position.
It is thus the object of the present invention to create a device for supplying package sleeves in an upright position into such a filling machine for filling liquid foodstuffs into multi-layer composite packages, which takes some of the load off the operator and reliably ensures semi-automatic or even fully-automatic supply of package sleeve parcels.
According to the invention, this object is met by a manipulator with a gripper unit for gripping one parcel of upright package sleeves at a time, and for handing it over to a defined filling line. In this, the gripper unit is able, in the horizontal plane, to travel parallel and across the filling lines and comprises means for clamping and handing over the parcels. According to the invention, the parcels now no longer need to be supplied to the individual magazines of the different filling lines but only to the manipulator which, depending on the actual fill state of the magazines, handles distribution of the parcels to the respective magazines with the lowest fill levels. As a result of its ability to travel in the horizontal plane and to swivel across it, the gripper unit is suitable for fast processing.
A further disclosure of the invention provides for the manipulator to comprise a drive unit which on at least one rail is able to travel longitudinally, parallel to the filling lines. In addition, it is useful if the manipulator comprises a swivelling unit which can be swivelled in the horizontal plane in relation to the above-mentioned drive unit. In this way, during supply of the magazines of the individual fill lines, lateral swivelling of the parcels can take place in order to supply the parcel held at a given time by the manipulator, to the respective magazine.
A further embodiment of the invention provides that, as a means for gripping on the side of the filling machine, at least two swing-out clamping plates are provided which press the lateral front edges of a parcel against a pressure ram engaging the other end of the parcel. This reliably ensures that the next compressible parcel is compressed to such an extent that it can be reliably handled by the manipulator.
During the actual filling of the magazines care must be taken that package sleeves at the front of the parcel, or the last package sleeves of the magazines respectively, do not fall over as this would necessitate manual interference or in an extreme case would even result in the filling machine stopping. For this reason [to ensure safe hand-over of the parcel] in a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the pressure ram is able to travel longitudinally in relation to the swiveling unit of the manipulator, in the direction of the filling lines. This reliably ensures that with the manipulator idle, the parcel handed over to the magazine is moved on by the pressure ram, at the feed speed of the package sleeves supplied to the filling machine, until its arrival in the magazine of the filling machine is completed and the xe2x80x9cfall-over safeguardxe2x80x9d of the last package sleeves has been taken over by the magazine.
From a construction point of view it is particularly advantageous if, according to a further disclosure of the invention, the clamping plates and the pressure ram are immediately coupled to the swivelling unit. In order to achieve the ability for lateral swivelling, a further preferred embodiment of the invention provides for the swivelling unit to be coupled to the drive unit and moveable in parallel, by means of two swivel arms arranged one behind the other in the direction of supply. In this it is advantageous if only one of the swivel arms is driven and the other swivel arm is force-coupled to the said rotationally-driven first swivel arm. This reliably prevents occurrence of a malfunction from the starting movement in the dead centre, in regard to parallel alignment of the swivelling unit. In this, known construction elements such as chains, belts or similar may be used as a forced coupling.
In order to enable the device according to the invention to operate for as long a period as possible, without supervision by operating personnel, a further embodiment of the invention provides for a storage area for holding a plural number of parcels to be additionally connected to the device. In this, it is particularly advantageous if the storage device comprises a number of storage areas corresponding to the respective number of filling lines; each of the said storage areas can accommodate a plural number of package-sleeve parcels. It is particularly advantageous if these storage areas extend vertically so that the parcels to be handed over can be handed over from below to the manipulator located in the plane of the filling line. It is useful if the storage areas comprise a plural number of travelling storage units for accommodating the parcels.
Finally, further embodiments of the invention provide for a device for depalletising to be additionally connected to the device, and/or that the device comprises means for removing the outer carton of a package-sleeve parcel. In this way, depending on the requirements and the layout of the locality of the filling enterprise, modular construction is possible for operating the device fully automatically or semi-automatically.